Half a dozen MLAs from RJD, Cong to join BJP soon: State party chief

Patna, Oct 10 (PTI) Bihar BJP president Dilip Jaiswal on Friday claimed the party was set to receive a boost ahead of the assembly polls, as “half a dozen MLAs of the RJD-Congress combine” will jump ship in the next few days.

He made the claim at a press conference where he welcomed back into the party Ajay Nishad, a two-time MP from Muzaffarpur, who had contested the seat in the last Lok Sabha polls on a Congress ticket, after the BJP fielded Raj Bhushan Chaudhary, now a Union minister.

“With Nishad’s return to the BJP, our party will be strengthened further in the Tirhut region,” Jaiswal said.

Nishad is the son of former Union minister, late Capt Jayanarayan Nishad, who had been with the RJD and the JD(U), led by arch rivals Lalu Prasad and Nitish Kumar, respectively.

“In the next few days, about half a dozen MLAs of the Congress and RJD will be joining the party, in a clear indication of the growing trust in the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar,” Jaiswal asserted.

The state BJP president, however, did not divulge whom he expected to jump ship.

The Bihar assembly polls will be held in two phases on November 6 and November 11, while counting of votes will take place on November 14. PTI NAC RBT